Protective apron for container

ABSTRACT

A protective apron for disposal on the top of a container such as a paint can, having a funnel-shaped internal portion opened to the contents of the container, a mid portion serving as a connector for detachably mounting to the rim of the can, and an external portion forming a catch basin or well, and extending over the outside of the container.

United States Patent Price [541 PROTECTIVE APRON FOR A CONTAINERInventor: Rita L. Price, Box 966 Wintucket Cove, Edgartown, Mass. 02539Filed: May 1, 1970 Appl. No.2 33,668

US. Cl ..220/90, 220/85 Int. Cl. ..B65d 25/00 Field of Search..215/l00.5;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1959 Nichols ..220/9012/1965 Banaszak et al. .....220/90 ux Sept. 26, 1972 l-laverstick..220/90 X 2,203,476 6/1940 Trabold ..220/85 UX 2,936,926 5/1960 Miller..220/85 2,630,241 3/1953 Schnabel ..220/85 U Primary Examiner-RaphaelH. Schwartz Attorney-Allison C. Collard [57] 1 ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 3Drawing Figures PROTECTIVE APRON FOR CONTAINER This invention relates toa protective apron for use with a container.

More specifically, this invention relates to a protective apron whichcan be placed over or coupled to the top rim of an opened paint can.

In applications'where paint is applied to surfaces with a brush which isdipped into a paint can, it has been found that the paint fills in thetop rim of the paint can and also partially covers its outside label orsurface. It therefore becomes difficult for the user to properly replaceand secure the lid to the paint can, or identify its contents from thelabel which becomes partially covered with paint.

ln order to overcome the above described disad vantages, severalconventional devices have been utilized which consist of funnel shapedmembers which are inserted onto the top'rim of the paint can so as toenlarge the can opening and provide a surface for wiping the brushduring the painting process. Since many of these conventional devicesonly partially fit into the rim of the paint can, paint has still beenfound to contaminate the internally exposed edge of the rim which servesto retain the funnel-shaped device in place.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a protective apron whichovercomes many of the disadvantages of conventional type devices incovering over the entire top rim of the paint can or other type ofcontainer, and further provides a portion which partially extends intothe internal part of the can. The apron of the inventionalso extendsdownwardly over the outside of the can to serve as a hood or shield toprevent paint or other contents in the can from contacting the externalsurfaces. The ,extemal portion of the apron also includes a catch basinor well which serves as a reservoir for catching any of the contents ofthe can which flow across the outside surfaces of the apron. Theexternal portion of the apron thus holds any paint on its peripherywhile its internal portion drains the paint back into the contents ofthe can.

The protective apron of the invention 'may be inexpensively manufacturedso that it will be disposable after each use, and can be provided in avariety of sizes to'fit conventional paint cans or other types ofcontainers.

It is therefore an object according to the present invention to providea protective apron for a container which mounts to the opening of thecontainer to permit its contents to be either drained back into thecontainer or be collected along the apron.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide aprotective apron for a paint can which is disposable after each use.

It is still a further object according to the present invention toprovide a protective apron for paint cans which is simple in design,easy to manufacture and reliable in operation.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings which disclose the embodiments of theinvention. his to be understood, however, that the drawings are designedfor the purpose of illustration only, and not as a definition of thelimits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar referencecharacters denote similarelements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the protective apron according to theinvention.

FIG. 2 is'a cross-sectional view taken along section 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a further cross-sectional view of an additional embodiment ofthe invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown a container which is preferably acylindrically shaped paint can having its lid removed to expose its topor opening and contents 11. The top or opening of container 10 issurrounded by a U-shaped rim l2, and an upwardly extending externalflange 13 as shown in detail in FlGS. 2 and 3. Inserted into U-shapedrim 12 is the protective apron according to the invention consisting ofa vertical internal portion 17 which is open to contents 11 withincontainer 10, and mid portion 16 which in one embodiment includes anannular rib l9 for'engagement into U-shaped rim 12. The protective apronaccording to the invention further includes a conica'lly-shapeddownwardly sloping external portion 15 which forms an annular'catchbasinby its connection with upwardly sloping flange l4.

The protective apron is preferably constructed from a single piece ofmaterial such as plastic, metal and the like, and is designed to" bedisposable after each use. Mid portion 16 of the apron not onlycompletely covers over the rim of container 10 but also serves as shownin FIG. 2 as a detachable connector through the use of its annular ribportion 19, engaging into U-shaped rim 12.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment of the presentinvention wherein annular rib portion 19 has been omitted from midportion 16 since the mid portion, and internal portion 17 firmly engagerim 12 of can 10. It is also not necessary to include the annularextending finger 18 in this embodiment. An additional embodiment takenfrom that showniin FIG. 3 may also include annular extending finger 18disposed below mid portion 16 and urged alongthe bottom surface offlange 13 so as to further retain the protective apron on to the top ofthe can. Extending finger 18 is curved backwards, away from the openingof the can to permit it to be easily inserted over flange 13 when theprotective apron is mounted on to the top of the container.

In actual use, a receptacle such as a paint brush ca be inserted intothe central opening of internal portion 17 and into contents l1, and canthen be wiped against its vertical wall surface to remove the excesspaint. None of contents 11, such as paint, can contaminate the rim orsidewalls of container 10 due to mid portion 16 and external portions 15and 14 of the protective apron. Any of the paint which flows outside ofinternal portion 17 will be retained within the annular well or basinformed by portions 15 and 14 so that it can be reused.

The protective apron according to the invention has been known to behighly successful in protecting the rim and sidewalls of containers. lnpainting operations, the protective apron has been found to greatlyreduce the wasting of paint which normally occurs with conventionaltypes of paint aprons and with containers not having any types ofaprons.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be understood that many changes and modificationsmay be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. What is claimed is:

l. A protective apron for use over the opening of a- 2. The protectiveapron as recited in claim 1 wherein said external portion furthercomprises an extending annular finger for engagement with the side wallsof the container.

3. The protective apron as recited in claim 1, wherein saidconically-shaped surface coupled to said mid-portion comprises anannular ring-shaped flange,

affixed at one end to said mid-portion, and disposed at an obtuse anglewith respect thereto, for providing a downwardly and radially outwardlyextending annular surface around the opening of the container.

4. The protective apron as recited in claim 3, wherein said upwardlyextending flange comprises a comically-shaped, upwardly and radiallyoutwardly extending annular ring-shaped flange, affixed at one end tothe end of said annular flange affixed to said midportion, saiddownwardly and upwardly extending flanges forming a substantiallyL-shaped annular catch basin disposed at an angle with respect to theside of the container on which it is disposed.

1. A protective apron for use over the opening of a container, comprising: a vertically-disposed internal portion having a central opening; a mid-portion, integrally formed with said internal portion, for disposal over the rim of the container; an annular rim disposed below said mid-portion, for frictionally engaging the rim of the container; and an external portion, comprising a downwardly sloping, conicallyshaped surface coupled to said mid-portion, said surface providing a protective hood over the side walls of the container, and an upwardly extending flange joined to the edge of said conically-shaped surface for forming an annular catch basin for the contents of the container.
 2. The protective apron as recited in claim 1 wherein said external portion further comprises an extending annular finger for engagement with the side walls of the container.
 3. The protective apron as recited in claim 1, wherein said conically-shaped surface coupled to said mid-portion comprises an annular ring-shaped flange, affixed at one end to said mid-portion, and disposed at an obtuse angle with respect thereto, for providing a downwardly and radially outwardly extending annular surface around the opening of the container.
 4. The protective apron as recited in claim 3, wherein said upwardly extending flange comprises a conically-shaped, upwardly and radially outwardly extending annular ring-shaped flange, affixed at one end to the end of said annular flange affixed to said mid-portion, said downwardly and upwardly extending flanges forming a substantially L-shaped annular catch basin disposed at an angle with respect to the side of the container on which it is disposed. 